Strange Tank And Fish Behaviour

[sarah86]

about 2 months ago after adding a couple of new fish, one of my older corys looked like it developed white spot. i tried to treat it but nothing seemed to work. no other fish showed any symptoms so i tried to treat it with internal parasite medicine, this didnt work either and after a few weeks the fish suddenly died. i was then left with 6 corys, now i have 3. 3 of them have just dissapeared with no signs of illness along with 2 silver tip tetras and yesterday 1 harlequin rasbora. all had no signs of illness. my bolivian rams were breeding 2 weekends ago and all seemed very happy, i thought if there was anything wrong with the tank i would be able to tell with them first as they tend to be a bit sensitive. all water parameters were normal ammonia - 0 nitrite - 0 nitrate - 40 pH - 6. these had been stable for months and apart from a couple of new fish no other changes were made. i cleaned the filter yesterday as the flow seemed to be slightly lower than normal (its a fluval 200 external), i cleaned the filter pads in the tank water and did a 25% water change. today ammonia - 0 nitrite - 0 nitrate - 40 pH 7.2. i dont know whats happened! i added the stuff for the tap water treatment, the temp was the same. now my female ram is acting very strange and keeps acting like she's fitting, darting about and then sitting on the bottom of the tank with her tail fin clamped.
sorry for the long post but im a bit confused as to why i had so many fish deaths with such stable parameters and wondered whether it could be a parasite in the water. i can understand i may have differences in the water parameters after cleaning the filter but i didnt clean it that thoroughly as i was cautious of causing a mini cycle, and have never had this happen after a filter clean before

anyone got any ideas?

(edited as the water was re-tested as i didnt quite understand the results as it was showing nitrate as 0 but now shows as 40)

 

[WILDER]

Corys are not prone to whitespot can you describe what you saw on the cory.
Is there enough aeration in the tank.
Did you use the full dose of med as you are only meant to use half dose with corys.
Did you overdose the med.
Did you increase aeratiion in the tank.
Sounds like lack of 02 if the filter was not flowing that well.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing against objects in the tank.
Checks the gills over to see if they look pale with excess slime, or red and inflamed.
Any excess mucas on the fish body.

 

[WILDER]

Darting around a tank can mean stray voltage, toxins in the water, over dose of meds, parasites.
Can also be ph shock.
Violent reaction of thrashing, darting, and dying mid-gasp (pH shock or quickly lethal toxins)

 

[sarah86]

Corys are not prone to whitespot can you describe what you saw on the cory.
Is there enough aeration in the tank.
Did you use the full dose of med as you are only meant to use half dose with corys.
Did you overdose the med.
Did you increase aeratiion in the tank.
Sounds like lack of 02 if the filter was not flowing that well.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing against objects in the tank.
Checks the gills over to see if they look pale with excess slime, or red and inflamed.
Any excess mucas on the fish body.

well first of all it was like little flecks of white like sugar grain size and the fish was flicking and rubbing against things in the tank. i treated with the amount it said on the bottle for the full course but it didnt say anything about not using it with corys or halving the dose (maybe i read it wrong). i have used the treatment on a cory before which i bought which already had white spot and it cleared it up no problem. there is an air stone in the tank and appears to be plenty or airation. the filter was only flowing slightly less than normal with plenty of water aggitation still. her gills look normal, no slime or redness, and there doesnt appear to be any excess mucus on the body. i dont think the problem is the same as with the cory as the cory happened quite a few weeks ago and wouldnt imagine she would have been breeding if she had been unwell. there has been a big increase in the pH though from around 6 - 7.2 so maybe thats what the problem is.

thanx for the reply, sorry i cant answer better than that! i'll keep and eye on her

ive just checked the pH of our tap water ands it 8.2, is that normal?

 

[WILDER]

Big change in ph can be lethal.
What type of test kit do you use, is it out of date.
What your tap ph.
Need to know substrate you use and everything you have in the tank.
Need to know why your ph has changed.
How long has the tank been set up.

 

[sarah86]

hi wilder sorry for the delayed response, firstly thank you very much for your replies. the female seems to have improved dramatically since ive been trying to lower the ph, ive also added some stress coat. she is swimming around almost normally again, eating and her colour is improving. the pH is still high but ive figured out what has happened. work has been done on the water pipes in our area and the pH in the tap was 8.2 so i think this is the problem. i didnt think to check as it has been stable for over a year. anyway lesson learnt and hopefully she'll be ok. she certainly seems to be enjoying the brime shrimp and is starting to be nosey again.

thanx again for your replies!

 

[WILDER]

Keep checking your tap ph.
Don't use ph adjusters as there more trouble than there worth,.
Also when new pipes have been fitted run water a while first before you do a water change.